Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. Jesus added “with all your mind”. That wasn’t in the Old Testament. Was that an error? A mistake? Or did Jesus add the mind for a reason?
The concern here is that when we say things like we “know” certain things because the Bible says so, we run the risk of turning people off to the message we are trying to give. Something that was meant to be caring and loving can be construed as something that sounds uncaring and insensitive. I think we need to remember that we believe God meets us where we are, and so when we talk with others who faith isn’t as strong as our or maybe have no faith at all, we also need to meet them where they are – not where we are.
Faith. We all know what it means, right? Are you sure? Your definition could be incomplete.
That puts a lot of responsibility on the father, having to make the right choices for the good of the family.
It also means sacrificing freedom for the members of the family, since they are expected to do what the father wants.
Many people take one side of an issue. It’s an either – or thing. .But what of there’s another possibility?
No – not a third option, but the possibility that “either” and “or” are both correct.
Sounds impossible, doesn’t it? Especially when people are so passionate (stubborn?) about the issue.
We (Christians) tend to focus on the part about the healthy not needing a doctor – but only the sick. The part about mercy and sacrifice – I feel like we (Christians) tend to think this message was meant for the Jewish leaders – but not for us. Which is unfortunate.
What are we really doing when we say someone’s in “a better place”?
Being nice? We think so.
Lying? Probably.
Is being honest better?
This confirms what I’ve often said here – when we get our English translations of the Bible, the words used just do not get across the intent of the authors – they don’t paint an appropriate picture of what was going on at the time – the emotions and feelings involved – and therefore, we don’t truly understand or appreciate what the Bible tries to tell us.
This confirms what I’ve often said here – when we get our English translations of the Bible, the words used just do not get across the intent of the authors – they don’t paint an appropriate picture of what was going on at the time – the emotions and feelings involved – and therefore, we don’t truly understand or appreciate what the Bible tries to tell us.
Did you see it – if you can’t walk on water it’s because you doubt – because you don’t have enough faith.
And if that’s what you got from the passage – it’s unfortunate. Because that wasn’t the point.
By now – hopefully the Christians who weren’t already aware of what these passages meant have now learned something. Something very hopeful, especially in times of trouble. For the non-Christians – I pray you have also learned something, and that this will help to change your view of what you maybe thought was a heartless God.
So – the “Call of God”. It’s one of those church words. It’s used, with an assumption that everyone knows what it means. Or maybe, that everyone will figure out what it means. Or – maybe – it’s one of those words that is so polarizing that no one wants to really touch what it means,
Free will means there’s responsibility attached to our choices. If there’s a price to pay for a given choice, the bill comes to us. Free will means that when we mess up, we are at least partly at fault. It’s hard to blame someone else for choices that we made. It’s much “nicer” to be able to say, “I was made that way”, or “It’s so-and-so’s” fault. We can absolve ourselves of all responsibility.
When you’re knee deep in alligators, it’s hard to remember that your original task was to drain the swamp. When we’re up to our necks in suffer
In a world that’s so filled with applications – therefore the image at the top – why do we seem to be so quick to forget application when it comes to truth?
I would imagine the scene above plays out fairly often. Someone is murdered. Someone else wonders – “where was God when … was murdered?”
So then – we’re all serial killers, aren’t we? To expect anything else is to not understand our own need for salvation.
It’s the same way with life. Too many extra things going on.
Figure out what’s important – focus on that – and don’t worry so much about the rest of the stuff. We can’t really totally ignore it – because we don’t want to get blind-sided by something / someone. But still – …
Anyone who thinks otherwise – either they don’t know what evil really is, because they haven’t really looked at it – or they have looked at it and want even more of it.
Has the Easter Bunny messed up our concept of Easter so much that even Christians don’t really know what it’s about?
Apparently, the answer, in too many cases, is an astounding YES!